(Published in the second edition of The Phish Companion...)

Okay, so everybody knows the story by now. Either because there was only a few hundred people in the Crest that night or because everybody seemed mellow or who knows what, the band decided to perform most of the Gamehendge saga. I was quite lucky to be there that night and quite lucky to be on the rail. The rail at the Crest was set unfortunately high, nearly at chin level, and my buddy Nitewing had this little cookie monster puppet propped up on the rail so he could tell people where he was.
Anyway, Trey launched into the narration of the Gamehendge story, and suddenly the security guard who had been staring at us blankly most of the night gets up from his post, walks over to the rail, pets the little Cookie Monster on the head, and walks across the to the other side of the stage. Well, Trey seemed to lose his concentration. After the guard petted the Cookie Monster, Trey's jaw drops and he falls silent, glaring at the guard as he walks across the front of the stage. He says, "I'm sorry, I was just looking at this guy right here" and continued his narration.
The show itself was understated, yet unbelievable. I think it was perfectly punctuated by the dual encore! "Amazing Grace" was simple and sublime and "Fire" just burned, baby, burned.

I hold this show in higher regards, not only because a day later I was born, but because I have listen to this show inside and out and every beat brings tears to my eyes. The second stands out primarily because it illustrates a picture of what Phish is as a whole. There is a massive level connectivity between the band and the audience that unfortunately, I am only able to imagine. However, I believe the highlight of the set comes from Tela, where you can really hear nothing. It's just Phish. No audience noise. Nothing. I don't believe it's based on the recordings but rather Trey telling a story and when Trey tells a story, everyone listens. This show means a lot to me spiritually and mentally whenever I hear it. It is a MUST for any newcomers.

It's always kinda funny to me how long of a torch people have carried for the return of The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday (semantics, schmemantics - Baba O'Riley isn't called Teenage Wasteland, either); not only is the song cycle inextricably tied to Early Non-Improv Phish - it's a bunch of songs with no jamming and lots of between songs talking, and yet Hands on a Hardbody is the one that bombed - and not only is it almost certainly not a big thing for Trey anymore (it's hard to imagine anything you did when you were 23 interesting you as much at 50, rock opera or no rock opera), but it isn't like they dragged it across the country like The Who did with Tommy, as there's only been 5 performances of the song cycle in Phish's long and glorious history. That being said, there is an unmistakable charm at hearing all the songs tied together, Early Phish has all sorts of charms that aren't tied to 20-minute jams, and it's hard not to imagine anything that would bring older fans more joy than its return. I used to be more adamant that I wouldn't really care if TMWSIY made its return; these days, I think I'd enjoy it for the one show, so long as we got some ripping Type II in the next one.

The first set does not hold a *ton* of interest, but the three big Set 1 vehicles - a whirling dervish of a Stash, a Reba that takes 'em down and brings 'em up Kent Hood style, and one of those tease-a-riffic early-90s Bowies that just spits hot guitar solo fire during the jam segment - are quite listenable, and (per @phishcrit on Twitter) may have earned the audience their special prize due to their respectful treatment of those numbers. As far as the second set goes - I mean, I don't even really know how to review the set, other than if you're interested in Gamehendge and TMWSIY it's an incredible treat and if you're not you might find yourself tapping out somewhere around AC/DC Bag (although you'll miss Forbin's > Mockingbird, and what kind of ass willfully misses a Forbin's > Mockingbird?). There's nary a jam to be found, as you'd expect, but it's hard not to get jazzed at the crowd yelling with joy when Trey begins story time, and everything is played with typical early-90s verve and joyfulness. And, really, it's kind of amazing how Trey manages to keep everything straight in his head while he runs down the entire tale *all by himself*. The Mike's Groove tacked on at the end is just icing on the cake.

Final thoughts: I mean, you like 7/27/14, right? Or the OJ show? Or Moby Dick? Or Tweezeppelin? They don't play wild and crazy shows every time out, and any time you can hear one of them in reasonably good SBD, you should take that chance. This isn't just a portal to Trey's magical world, but a portal to Phish before 1994 changed the game, when they were younger and crazier and more theatrical and less about big-time jams. That, more than anything else, is worth the download and the listen.

So, I decided to go to this show on a whim, after finding out shortly before that tickets were still on sale (back in the old days where you could post questions on rec.music.phish, and band representatives would answer). A Tuesday night in Sacramento, a couple hour drive from home. I hooked up with a young Phishhead from Berkeley (I'm an old phishhead, over 50 now, over 30 back then) from Berkeley, we got there an hour or so before showtime and got seats in the 3rd row.

During the set break, I went to the bathroom in the lobby, and Mike was in there washing his hands and face. I complimented him on the great Reba in the first set.

this honestly should be already be a LivePhish release.. the quality on the SBDs on the internet are already pretty damn good, so if it's fixed up a bit everyone will wanna get their hands on the remastered version. i get the chills every time i listen to this show, its SO DAMN GOOD.

Wow! I've been waiting for a killer show and this is it! This is the only show at the Crest Theatre, 35th of the tour, and it's a good one. With an absolutely crystal clear recording you can feel the magic happen and hear every note, good or bad. It was a real pleasure to listen to this. If you would like to take a drum clinic, Fishman is on fire the whole night!

A solid Chalk Dust right out of the gate with lots of Mike and Fish in the mix, kind of low Trey level pretty much throughout the whole show, which was not a bad thing. Guelah was also nice and tight. Pen had some DAT noise in the recording and a few off spots from Trey and Mike. Stash was very dynamic and well played with a few spots from Mike again. Here I love the quality of recording as you can hear Trey say, "Whatever you changed, don't change it back." Monitor mix maybe? A standard Bouncing follows. Rift was much better, but still almost off time at certain points and again very dynamic. Woo Hoo! Weigh is back, I love this song. It's pretty rare and this one is spotty from Trey, but Page really holds it together. Reba was reasonably good, a few off spots in transition, good dynamic jam, weak Mike at the end. Sparkle had much more control to it tonight. Bowie had the usual antics before the song starts, and this one was pretty weak to my ears. There were off spots in the composed section and the ending jam was just weak. Maybe they were just tired after a really good first set.

Nice solid, dynamic Golgi to open up second set. Ice had some weak spots, and maybe that's why...Good Lord here we go! Fish's woodblocks and Ice's spacey jam take us to Gamehenge!!! Lizards is pretty well played and is followed by Esther's "Flying Jam" section for the narration leading us into a weak, but eventually rocking, Tela. Wilson also rocks as does Bag. Bag is still rare at this point and it really is great tonight. I love Forbin's, and this one was pretty good. What's kind of funny here is that the most practiced transition into Mockingbird was actually worse than any of the other unpracticed ones between the Gamehenge songs. Anyway, Mike had some off spots in MBird and in the rocking Sloth. McGrupp is added in and also had some rough spots in the lyrics and playing. Page was accompanied by Fishman on the washboard during his solo. Somehow, the piano was also out of tune this whole time too. Mike's had some tiny off spots as well, but a good jam with it and I'm not sure what kind of antics were going on at this point because it seems they aren't playing bad as much as they just aren't really playing notes. Was it strange dances while lying on their backs from Trey and Mike? Anyway, Hydrogen was just ok as usual. Weekapaug sounded a little tired and unimaginative in the jam. It rocked hard enough to round out a legendary second set.

Everyone gets shushed for Grace and we switch to an audience source for the encores. It's been a while for Fire and it shows in this sloppy performance. That doesn't really matter at this point.

I can't stress enough how good Fishman was tonight. Mike had a rough time overall which should make this more of a four star show, but the clean recording and Gamehenge saga bump this one up to at least four and a half. And notice how many times I mentioned the word dynamic. It's funny to think that maybe the other night when the cops kept shushing them at the Greek, it made them more conscious of their dynamics while playing, which is a good thing.

Possibly the single most overrated Phish concert of all time. (Disclaimer: I think Gamehendge is a fun story and all, but the saga's mere presence does not make me go gaga when I listen to a recording from the days of yore.)

I'm sure that it was a special experience for those who attended, and I probably would feel the same way if I had been there. The circulating SBD is phenomenally crisp.

First set is strong and peppy from start to end. A fiery Stash and a quirky Bowie are highlights. Second set is anchored by the Gamehendge narration, which is fairly straightforward this time around. It frames tight, but ordinary, versions of the featured songs. Mike's Song and Weekapaug feature some interesting variations. Encore is as encore does.

If you really, really like the Gamehendge narration, then you might hold this show in higher regard than I do. At worst, you'll still get to hear some playfully flawless vintage Phish in pristine SBD quality.